Tucked away on the west side of the small town of Broad Channel in the middle of Jamiaca Bay is a narrow, dead end, street that goes by the name of West 12th Road. Those of us who live there know that the nice part about living in a small town is that when you are not quite sure what is going on, someone else always does!
[Peter J. Mahon West 12th Road, Broad Channel]

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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Broad Channel Civic Association Meeting

BROAD CHANNEL CIVIC ASSOCIATION

President’s Message

This month's Civic meeting will be held on Thursday, May 28th at 7 PM at the VFW Hall.

Select Bus Service for Crossbay and Woodhaven Boulevards has become a very hotly debated topic in neighborhoods along the route as well as for people who commute up the Crossbay/Woodhaven route. At the May Civic Meeting we will see a presentation by DOT on the impacts to Broad Channel that this proposal would create as well as an overview of how this plan would work and its goals. We reached out to Councilman Ulrich's office to help set up this presentation when we realized that the DOT was presenting to various neighborhoods and we were not listed for a formal presentation. We want to thank him for ensuring we will have an opportunity to comment on this proposal which could be the biggest change in the North/ South commute from Broad Channel in years. Some transportation advocates have commented that Broad Channel may lose bus stops with this proposal and our residents who commute via car along this route could see even worse delays then are currently experiencing, as lanes are set aside for "bus only" use. We urge anyone who could be affected to listen to the presentation and to add your voice to the discussion.

The Beautification Day of the center mall was a huge success and a big thanks to Judy Zackiewicz for once again leading this effort!! Judy puts in a tremendous amount of work every year in preparation for this day, including building tree pits, purchasing flowers, gravel and mulch and on getting the word out to our residents. We are lucky to have residents like her !! The mall looks great with so many of the tree pits cleaned up and now sporting new flowers as well as mulch and stone! It really makes a difference when you drive through town, and I hear this from our Rockaway friends as well. I also want to thank the Vollies for once again watering all of the flowers and tree pits after the planting was completed. In addition, the Lisena Landscaping Company donated the flowers for the planting and they deserve a thank you as well.

Entering Broad Channel from Rockaway you will see a new Broad Channel sign that was recently unveiled. We are grateful toArverne by the Sea and Rockaway Beach Blvd. Construction Company for paying to have this sign created and for installing it. The sign really looks great and sets a nice tone for those who enter our town from Rockaway.

Speaking of the Lisena Landscaping Company -- they also donated all of the flowers as well as the time and effort to plant them around our new Broad Channel sign that has just been unveiled. They have also planted and cleaned up the mall area adjacent to their storefront location (next to the BCAC). This business is a great asset to the town, and if at all possible, please try to patronize them if you are buying flowers, trees or other yard amenities this Spring.

Build it Back updates will be presented at the Civic meeting by Rudy Giuliani from the office of Housing Recovery. Rudy will give an update on the Zoning Text Change that the Civic has been very involved in and which is expected to be approved in the first week of June. This zoning change will resolve the issue that so many of our residents who are trying to elevate have encountered, in which portions of their home are in "non-compliance" with old zoning maps. This has resulted in an inability to get building permits approved and it is anticipated that this zoning change will resolve these problems. In addition a resolution to the DOT issue (regarding the alteration mapped street problem) will be discussed for those who have run into this delay. Rudy will also be able to answer any other Build it Back questions that residents may have.

If you had applied for Build it Back but were told that an SBA loan that you were approved for, but which you DECLINED, is being counted as a benefit, you should come to the Broad Channel Civic Meeting on May 28th and speak to Rudy from the Build it Back Program. They are looking to work with residents who were in that situation in order to have that SBA loan NOT counted towards your benefits as long as you did not take the loan.

I want to Thank Phil Goldfeder’s office for their time and effort in assisting our Civic efforts to get a Post Office back in town. The amount of red tape and bureaucratic bungling at the USPS on this issue is mind boggling and was the inspiration for this month's "quote of the month". I am confident that we will be ultimately successful and once again will have a post office in town.